In five days I’ll be on a jetplane bound for Paris. I haven’t brushed up on my French the way I had planned. Instead, I purchased two phrasebooks and dug out my copy of 501 French Verbs as well as a pocket French/English dictionary (not the vest pocket one). I’ve been practicing around the house, […]

[Read more →]

A few weeks ago, Melissa sent me a song called The Giant of Illinois by The Handsome Family. I had never heard of them before and subsequently had no idea what to expect of the song. The first time I listened to it I had about the same reaction that other people I’ve played it […]

[Read more →]

It’s funny, but when I stay up until three in the morning on a weeknight working on a song I refer to it as ‘being productive’, but when I stay up until three because my thoughts are so loud that I can’t sleep I call it ‘insomnia’. I’m happy to report that I’ve been OUTRAGEOUSLY […]

[Read more →]

I’ve spent the last six weeks working on the fifth and final cover song I’ll be doing for (hopefully) a long while. This has been a fantastic experience for me as I’ve invited outside participation for the first time since I’ve had my studio up and running. Jessica Reynolds and Tim O Thompson provide the […]

[Read more →]

This image of my compass rose tattoo on Flickr has been viewed 5,328 times. Considering that most of my photos on Flickr have an average of 100-200 views 5,328 is ZOMG ASTRONOMICAL!!

[Read more →]

It’s been a long time since I’ve been excited about an album that hasn’t even come out yet. I am so excited about Longwave’s Secrets Are Sinister album (due Nov. 11) that I’ve taken to opening their MySpace page in a separate window and then minimizing it just so I can listen to the new […]

[Read more →]

Combing through my archives (which is such a pleasant experience LET ME TELL YOU), I came across this old post from 2002: It was (fiction). I don’t really care to re-read stuff I’ve already written (which is probably why I never made it as a real writer), but that one I do.

[Read more →]

Ignoring the fact that I have an absurd smirk on my face, look at all my hair back then! This is Virtu (aka The Rudiments) circa 1987. L to r: me, Jeff Cannon, Shannon Whitehead (back), Lara Liso, Stacy Parrish and Lisa Oglesby. (Thanks, Lara!)

[Read more →]

Two songs are currently competing for today’s soundtrack: You Are Dreaming by Shout Out Louds and 405 by Death Cab for Cutie. The play counts so far are as follows: You Are Dreaming: 10x; 405 (album version): 3x; 405 (acoustic version): 8x. So far, 405 is winning, but is that because there are two versions […]

[Read more →]

Okay so we were on our way home from the park today, the boys and I. We got to talking about the word racecar. Gabriel asked, “How do you say racecar backwards?” I knew the answer, but one of the things you learn as a parent is not to answer easy questions that you obviously […]

[Read more →]